The Day They Took Him

Ning Shixue pressed his lips together again.

Xie Zhaozhou switched to pinching his cheek.
His cheeks flushed slightly as he slapped Xie Zhaozhou’s hand away hard.

Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King was still held against Ning Shixue’s chest.
He looked around, his big, dark eyes full of confusion.
There were no bears here at all.
Why did the baby want to take a bear home?
He didn’t even want to be friends with the bear anymore.

When Ning Shixue got tired of holding him, he put him down.
Xie Yaoyao, wrapped in his little down jacket, followed behind Ning Shixue.

His fair, tender cheeks puffed out as he hummed a song.
“Little bear, little bear, where are you going?”

“To pick morning glories,”
Ning Shixue said, taking Xie Zhaozhou’s hand and swinging it back and forth.
Then he finished the next line of the song.

He always liked to hold Xie Zhaozhou’s hand and gently swing it.
Xie Zhaozhou’s whole body felt tingly from the swinging.

He simply couldn’t handle him acting cute.

Ning Shixue also liked to hug him.
He would wrap his arms around his neck and burrow into his arms.
His eyes were always sparkling.
When Xie Zhaozhou looked down and pretended to kiss him, the tips of his fair ears would visibly redden.
But he was mean.
Every time Ning Shixue stood on tiptoe to get close, he would deliberately dodge.

If he didn’t get his kiss, he would get angry and turn into a little morning glory.

Xie Zhaozhou simply couldn’t control the wickedness in his heart.

Whenever Ning Shixue got close, he wanted to crush him in his arms, rub him into his very bones.

It was almost the end of the year.
The company was getting busier and busier.
Old Master Xie’s heart was also bad.
The doctor had originally considered that after being in a coma for years, his body couldn’t handle surgery.
But they couldn’t delay any longer.
So they risked it and performed a heart bypass.

After the surgery, he fell unconscious again.
Only in the past few days had he woken up a bit.

Xie Zhaozhou wasn’t particularly close to Old Master Xie.
He wouldn’t actively consider his thoughts.
The old butler had cautiously mentioned it a few times.
That night after dinner, Xie Zhaozhou took Ning Shixue and Xie Yaoyao to the hospital.

Old Master Xie was still wearing an oxygen mask.
He weakly raised his hand and rubbed it against Xie Yaoyao’s soft, chubby cheek.

Xie Yaoyao didn’t know who this old grandpa was.
But how could anyone not like his soft cheeks?
Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King was just full of confidence.

Ning Shixue was often sick.
It made him think sick people were very pitiful.
He actively leaned in and let the old grandpa touch his cheek.

Then he followed Ning Shixue out.

Xie Zhaozhou still had things to say to Old Master Xie.
Ning Shixue held Xie Yaoyao’s chubby little hand and waited for him outside the ward.

Seeing this old grandpa, Xie Yaoyao suddenly remembered he hadn’t seen his own grandparents in a very, very long time.
He hugged Ning Shixue’s leg, rubbed his chubby face against it, and looked up, asking,
“Baby, we not going, to grandma’s house?”

“…”
Ning Shixue pinched his fateful little cheek and could only tell him,
“You never have to go again.”

Old Master Xie had also learned about the destruction of the old Xie residence.

The old house was over a hundred years old.
Several generations of the Xie family had lived there.
To Old Master Xie, it was one of the most precious things in his life.
It was hard to let go.

Xie Zhaozhou’s attitude was very businesslike.
He had asked him if he wanted to rebuild the old residence.
He could arrange for someone to do it.

But Old Master Xie shook his head.
His already gray hair was now completely white.
At his age, he opened his eyes to the news of Xie Sui’s death.
He hadn’t been able to see Xie’s father one last time.
He was deeply wounded.
But he forcefully held on.

Things weren’t over yet.
If he died now from the strain, it might get Xie Zhaozhou killed too.

He couldn’t bear to lose anyone else.

After seeing Old Master Xie, Xie Zhaozhou drove them home.
The last episode of the parenting show was airing that night.
When they got home, the old butler was already watching it.
Ning Shixue went over to watch too.

Ning Shixue’s knees were cold from the chill.
Xie Zhaozhou warmed them with a hot towel.
Then he massaged his calves.

The last episode featured the aliens.
In the official version, the audience had a God’s-eye view.
They knew the aliens were fake.
Seeing the guests dumbfounded and the kids completely bewitched, the old butler laughed uncontrollably.

Xie Yaoyao spread his little arms and pounced into Ning Shixue’s arms, rubbing his face against his.
“Outer space, really have Ultraman?”

Ning Shixue had never seen Ultraman in his life.
Maybe there were, just not on his planet.

His feet were cold.
He tucked them under Xie Zhaozhou’s sweater, pressing against his abs.
The corner of Xie Zhaozhou’s mouth lifted.
He didn’t dodge.
He even held Ning Shixue’s other foot against his chest.

The tips of Ning Shixue’s ears were red with embarrassment.
His toes uncontrollably curled slightly.
He thought for a moment and told Xie Yaoyao,
“But there are robots as big as Ultraman.”

Or mecha.

After all, humans had already developed exoskeletons.
His planet’s technology was still a bit more advanced.

Xie Yaoyao’s big, dark eyes were full of excitement.
His soft little hands clenched into fists.
When would Big Daddy buy him a robot like that?

He looked at Xie Zhaozhou.

Xie Zhaozhou looked back at him.

Xie Yaoyao counted on his soft, white little fingers.
He thought one billion probably wouldn’t be enough.

And when would Big Daddy give him another one billion?

Xie Zhaozhou said,
“Go earn it yourself.”

Ning Shixue: “…”

The already fragile father-son relationship was hanging by an even thinner thread.

Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King was in tears.
In the end, he didn’t get his own billion.
Big Daddy even told him to earn it himself.
He had to go to sleep angrily.

Ning Shixue only went to sleep after watching the show.

In winter, Ning Shixue’s health was very bad.
Yan City’s winters were cold.
Every year was hard to get through.
He stayed home all day.
But at night, he still got a fever without warning.

In the middle of the night, Xie Zhaozhou felt the person in his arms was burning hot.
His eyelids were flushed from the fever.
He immediately called the doctor.

It wasn’t very serious this time.
The fever broke after just one night.
But Xie Zhaozhou still didn’t go to the company.
He stayed home with him all day.

The old butler picked up Xie Yaoyao from kindergarten and brought him home.
Then he went out again.
That evening, it snowed heavily.
The old butler didn’t get back until after nine, braving the snow.

His hands were red from the cold.
Smile lines appeared at the corners of his eyes.
But he smiled warmly and waved for Ning Shixue to come over.

Ning Shixue went over to help him hold his coat.
Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King wasn’t such a brat now.
But having been raised pampered in the Xie family, he felt the butler grandpa was specially there to take care of him.
Besides the baby, he didn’t actively take care of anyone else.

While Ning Shixue held the butler grandpa’s coat, he propped his chubby face in his hands and blinked.
He also ran over to help get a pair of slippers.

The old butler couldn’t help smiling.
He took Ning Shixue’s hand and pressed something into his palm.

Ning Shixue felt something cold in his palm.
When he picked it up, he was stunned.
It was a longevity lock.

Old Master Xie and his late wife were both Buddhist.
The old butler was also quite old.
He believed in this sort of thing too.
So he went to pray for a longevity lock.
He patted Ning Shixue on the back, his smiling eyes very kind.
“They say the ones the elderly pray for are especially effective.”

He was a few years younger than Old Master Xie.
But he was also considered long-lived.
And at over seventy, he was still very healthy.

“…”
Ning Shixue hesitated.
He didn’t know if he should accept it.
This longevity lock looked very expensive.

Until Xie Zhaozhou came over and hugged him from behind.
He told him,
“If Uncle Chen gives it to you, just take it.”

Only then did Ning Shixue accept it.

They had already eaten dinner.
Xie Yaoyao was taken to bathe and sleep by the old butler.
After they left, Ning Shixue pounced on Xie Zhaozhou’s back and fiercely ordered him to carry him to the bedroom.

Xie Zhaozhou held his thighs and carried him steadily.
Then he looked down at the longevity lock in his hand.
He couldn’t help smiling softly.
“Live to a hundred.”

This longevity lock was quite cute.

Maybe even too cute.

It was a bit childish for Xie Yaoyao.
But for Xie Yaoyao’s already grown-up baby, it was just right.

Ning Shixue pressed his lips together.
The tips of his ears were slightly red.
He felt this was something for kids.

Lying on Xie Zhaozhou’s back, he suddenly whispered,
“Second Brother, it’s okay if I don’t live to a hundred. If you live to a hundred, I only need to live to ninety-three.”

He was originally just an alien.
He didn’t even belong to this place.
But he couldn’t imagine a world without Xie Zhaozhou.
He just wanted to be where he could reach out and touch him.

Xie Zhaozhou was stunned for a moment.
He bounced him up a little on his thighs.
His Adam’s apple moved.
Finally, he managed to speak.
His tone was quite plaintive as he asked,
“If I become an old man and can’t carry Teacher Xiao Ning anymore, will you still want me?”

“…No,”
Ning Shixue said angrily.
He stared at the outline of Xie Zhaozhou’s profile and swung his legs, saying insincerely,
“I’ll go keep some male models, using the black card you gave me.”

“That cold?”
Xie Zhaozhou was amused.
His tone was rarely a bit serious.
“Looks like I’ll have to take good care of myself when I’m old, so I can still carry Teacher Xiao Ning when I’m a hundred.”

Ning Shixue thought that sounded about right.

He didn’t want to sleep yet.
They lay on the bed together.

Xie Zhaozhou propped himself up to kiss him.
His nose was buried in the hollow of Ning Shixue’s neck.
Ning Shixue was tickled by his rubbing.
His face red, he pushed his head away.
Half his face was hidden under his turtleneck.
Xie Zhaozhou grabbed his hand and kissed his fingertips.
Ning Shixue even curled his pale, slender fingertips and hid them in his sweater sleeve.

Xie Zhaozhou looked up and met his beautiful, angry eyes.
He couldn’t help chuckling softly.

Then Ning Shixue elbowed him.

Ning Shixue still wasn’t feeling well.
Having been sick for so long, he was sluggish.
The little longevity lock hung around his neck as he lay in Xie Zhaozhou’s arms.
When Xie Zhaozhou pinched his cheek, he barely reacted.

He just looked up at Xie Zhaozhou’s eyes.

He didn’t know if he could live to a hundred.
But he kept thinking, if he died this time, where would he go?

Because of the fever, his whole body was weak.
He wanted to cough but couldn’t.
His chest felt tight and uncomfortable.
He slept very soundly at night.
Even Xie Yaoyao couldn’t shake him awake.

Ning Shixue felt unwilling.

Xie Zhaozhou held him, gently patting his back.
Like coaxing him to sleep.
He even asked him what his planet was like.

Was it a place he could reach?

Ning Shixue mumbled to him.
But in the end, he couldn’t help it.
He lowered his head and bit Xie Zhaozhou’s collarbone.
Then he raised his hand to touch his neck and Adam’s apple.

Xie Zhaozhou’s prominent Adam’s apple moved under his palm.
He looked at him with curved eyes.
“What is it, baby?”

“…Second Brother, if I die,”
Ning Shixue asked, lifting his eyelashes, very seriously,
“will you love someone else?”

Just thinking about it was more painful than dying.
But he had never asked Xie Zhaozhou.

If it wasn’t completely his, he didn’t want it.
If after he died, Xie Zhaozhou loved someone else, he thought he could hate himself back to life.
He was that selfish.

Xie Zhaozhou’s narrow phoenix eyes were deep and long.
Looking at him so intently could easily give the illusion of deep affection.
Like he only had eyes for him.

Ning Shixue’s eyelashes fluttered.
His skin was so pale it was cold.
His hand was already at Xie Zhaozhou’s throat.
But his fingertips were also trembling.
It only lasted a few seconds, so short it was hard to notice.
In the end, he raised his arm and hugged Xie Zhaozhou’s neck.

Then he buried his face in the hollow of his neck.

Xie Zhaozhou was startled.
He held him by the bottom and lifted him a little.
His voice was low and suggestive.
“Why the sudden acting cute?”

“Can’t I?”
Ning Shixue asked, his ears red, muffled.

His stomach was starting to hurt.
These hands had killed so many people.
It wasn’t a monster that saved him.
He was the monster himself.

Xie Zhaozhou probably didn’t know how tempting that promise was to him.
Asking him if he could put him in his pocket.

Telling him, wherever you go, I go.

He wanted to put Xie Zhaozhou in his pocket.
If he died, he would take Xie Zhaozhou with him to the next star.

But he simply couldn’t do it.

He was hopelessly gone.
If Xie Zhaozhou really loved someone else, he would probably just be glad someone could be with him.

“Acting cute all the time,”
Xie Zhaozhou said, lowering his head to kiss the top of his head.
There was a gentleness in his eyes that he himself didn’t know.
After a long time, he sighed very softly, a bit helpless.
“I’ve already met you. Who else do you want me to love?”

Last Night’s Star was scheduled for release on New Year’s Day.
When Ning Shixue felt a bit better, his agent got him another role.
This time, he was playing the third male lead.

But the movie was a sci-fi genre.
The budget was over a billion.
The director had won an award at the Moscow International Film Festival.

Even if the role wasn’t big, just getting his face known would be worth it.

This time, Ning Shixue wasn’t filming in Yan City.
The set was a three-plus hour flight away.

Xie Yaoyao hadn’t been worried at first.
He had filmed a movie with Ning Shixue.
He already knew what Ning Shixue’s job was.
The first night he didn’t see the baby, he was as calm as a capybara.
The second night he didn’t see the baby, he hugged his bear and sighed, but still slept soundly.

He even dreamed of fighting aliens.

The third night he didn’t see the baby, Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King started to get restless.
After dinner, he grabbed the butler grandpa’s hand and said anxiously,
“We go to set, find baby.”

“But the set is very far from here,”
the old butler said, both amused and exasperated.
“We can’t even drive there.”

Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King simply couldn’t handle it.
He felt like he had been hit by life.
He didn’t believe the baby would go somewhere so far.
It sounded farther than outer space.

After all, in his dreams, he could travel to outer space many times.
Why couldn’t he go to the set?

He video-called Ning Shixue.

Ning Shixue had just finished work and answered.
The video was filled with a chubby little face.
He told Xie Yaoyao to move back a bit.
Finally, he could see the whole chubby kid.
He asked, puzzled,
“What’s wrong?”

Xie Yaoyao was so aggrieved.
The baby even asked him what was wrong.
He was so aggrieved he flopped onto the bed.

Ning Shixue was confused.

He couldn’t handle this sudden filial piety.

Every time Ning Shixue answered Xie Yaoyao’s calls, Xie Yaoyao was very unreliable.
He would be talking about Black Soil Wolf one second, and the next he’d be sharing about the little pig trotters he ate for dinner.

Xie Yaoyao flopped down.
He was aggrieved for a while.
Then he started singing a new song he had learned in kindergarten for Ning Shixue.

Ning Shixue finally understood why Xie Yaoyao was looking for him.
He promised Xie Yaoyao he would be back for Christmas.

Xie Yaoyao finally agreed to hang up.

After hanging up, he blankly scratched his little cheek.
He didn’t even know when Christmas was.

Ning Shixue wrapped up the night before Christmas.
Xie Zhaozhou could also spend Christmas with him.
He decided to take the chubby kid to dinner with Xie Zhaozhou first, then go to the amusement park that night.

His flight landed in Yan City at 3 PM.
He went straight to Xie Yaoyao’s kindergarten.

Kindergarten wasn’t out yet.
Having learned his lesson last time, he didn’t dare get too close.
But glancing over, he noticed Xie Yaoyao’s seat was empty.
His brow furrowed slightly.

The whole class, only Xie Yaoyao was missing.

The little girl with pigtails sitting by the door spotted him again.
Excitedly, she said,
“Baby!”

This was an art class.
They were playing with modeling clay.
The classroom was noisy anyway.
Not many kids noticed Ning Shixue.

Ning Shixue greeted the assistant teacher and bent down to ask the girl,
“Where’s Xie Yaoxing?”

“Xie Yaoxing’s tummy hurts,”
the little girl said, swinging her pigtails.
“The teacher took him to the infirmary.”

The assistant teacher quickly came over and explained to Ning Shixue,
“He might have caught a chill during nap time. His stomach started hurting in class, so Teacher Li took him to the infirmary.”

Ning Shixue’s heart still sank.
He had never seen Xie Yaoyao sick.
He had a bad feeling.

He rushed to the infirmary.
The doctor said Xie Yaoyao had indeed been there with the teacher.
But he had left a few minutes ago.
His stomach ache wasn’t severe.
The doctor also thought it was just from catching a chill.

Ning Shixue pressed his lips together and turned to leave.

He had met Xie Yaoyao’s homeroom teacher.
She was a woman in her thirties.
She had worked at this kindergarten for over a decade.

Before enrolling Xie Yaoyao, Xie Zhaozhou had thoroughly investigated every employee.
He made sure none of them had any connection to the Xie family.
Only then did he enroll him.

Logically, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Since they said his stomach hurt, Ning Shixue went to the bathroom.
On the way, he quickly messaged Xie Zhaozhou.

There was no one in the bathroom either.
Only half a window was open.
Ning Shixue’s footsteps suddenly stopped.
He walked over to the window.

There were several clear grooves on the windowsill.

Fresh shoe prints.

Ning Shixue braced himself and climbed over the window frame.
This bathroom was on the first floor.
The windowsill wasn’t too high.
He leaned out and jumped down.
In the snow, he found Xie Yaoyao’s children’s smartwatch.

This spot was very close to the kindergarten’s back gate.

The surveillance cameras didn’t seem to be broken.
This kindergarten had very strict security.
Ning Shixue didn’t know how they had gotten the kid out.
But he couldn’t think about that now.

He looked up.
A black car was parked by the roadside.
A man with a cap, dark skin, and a lean build was about to bend down and get in.

The man was about Ning Shixue’s height.
But Ning Shixue instinctively sensed a dangerous aura from him.

Ning Shixue didn’t hesitate.
He ran straight over.

The man was about to close the car door.
But the door was held by an extremely pale hand.
Ning Shixue’s hand seemed to be trembling.
His expression was also panicked.
He stared blankly into the car.

Xie Yaoyao was slumped in the back seat, unconscious.
His clothes had all been changed.
Probably to remove any trackers.

The man’s face was dark, his gaze sharp.
In his hand was a revolver.
The black gun was aimed at Xie Yaoyao’s head.

There were three other people in the car.
The driver in the front…
And Xie Mengyuan and Xie Hanzhou.

Xie Mengyuan saw it was him.
The cold light in his eyes faded.
His expression was, as always, gentle.
“Xiao Ning, what are you doing here?”

Ning Shixue’s lips also trembled.
His voice sounded scared and nervous.
But he still spoke.
“I’ll go with him.”